Monday, April 02, 2012

The Baltimore Sun's 10 Year Anniversary Series: Juan Dixon

As we finally end the college basketball season tonight with the 2012 National Championship game, the Baltimore Sun wraps up its "Where Are They Now?" coverage of the 2002 National Championship team with the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, Juan Dixon (1998-2002), who is currently rehabilitating a knee injury and hoping to get back into the NBA. An excerpt:

At age 33, a decade after leading the Terps to the NCAA men's championship, three years removed from his last NBA game and now rehabilitating an injured left knee, Juan Dixon is plotting his comeback.

"Don't count me out," Dixon said Thursday in his first extensive interview since being banned in February 2010 from playing in Europe after failing a drug test the previous season.

In short, Dixon is trying to rewrite the last chapter of his basketball legacy.

"My goal in the next year is to get back into the NBA," said Dixon, who played seven years in the league after being a first-round draft choice (17th overall) of the Washington Wizards in 2002. "I'm going to get back to the NBA. My kids and basketball are my passions, and I want them to see me play in the NBA. I want to go out on my own terms. I know I'm still an NBA player."